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COL Darron L. Wright Award Winners

Thanks to all the writers who submitted for the 2017 Darron L. Wright Award. We loved reading your work and are inspired by the creativity and ingenuity it took to write these pieces.
The winner of the short fiction contest is "Village With No Name" by Ray McPadden.
Second place goes to "Walking Point" by Dewaine Farria.
Third place goes to "Dirty Night Bingo" by Colin W. Sargent.
Other finalists were "Too Far East" by Anthony R. Garner and "Sand in the Desert" by Ryan Stoval
The winner of the Poetry contest is "Air Born" by Eric Chandler.
Second Place Goes to "Facing 2003" by Jeremy Warneke.
Third place goes to "the frequency hop" by Randy Brown.

Because a nation deserves to hear its veterans’ stories.

Fitzgerald and Bierce, Vonnegut and Hemingway, O'Brien and Salinger. Some of the finest writers in American history served in the U.S. military during times of war. Line of Advance is a non-profit literary journal committed to providing a platform for the voices of the next wave of great American writers. Join us and take part in the American literary experience.

Writers, Photographers, and Artists

We are currently accepting submissions of writing, photography, and art to showcase on LOA. We’re committed to promoting, networking, and helping to develop veteran writers and artists of all kinds. If you have work to submit, work to be seen, or even just a question, please reach out to us. You’re the reason we’re here.

Readers.

Line of Advance was created for you, to provide a curated platform for the best in writing and other visual arts from American military veterans. Please check out recent posts, browse the site to learn more, or make a small financial contribution if you’re able.

June 26, 2017

Veterans and the Arts

The colonel, With his close-cropped hair, shaved chin, clear skin, regal bearing and college degree, Showed up that Thanksgiving evening to serve slices of turkey in the DFAC. “Dark or white meat?” he asked to every soldier who passed through the chow hall line. It was tradition, whether stateside or out in the suck. The… Read More

May 2, 2017

Veterans and the Arts

During World War II, Hollywood bombshell Hedy Lamarr invented a method of encrypting communications between a submarine and a torpedo on its way to target. Two radios could hop around the spectrum, working in harmony, a handshake tuned by hardware more at home with punch cards and player pianos. Every time I push-to-talk… Read More

Veterans and the Arts

a portajohn in Kyrgyzstan one of my favorite pieces of graffiti: Toodles, Afghanistan our chartered airplane followed the great circle west over territory I didn’t recognize a long sweep of coastline probably The Maritimes the sun gleamed down through the severe clear over the St. Croix between Maine and Canada reversing waterfalls are… Read More

Veterans and the Arts

“What’s in this thing?” I shouted over the wop-wop of the Sea Knight’s rotors. One hand on the stick, I held up the leather document case, glanced at its tearaway label. “Confidential.” I shook it. In the black windscreen, the tower rose out of the darkness like a lighthouse. “Dunno,” Pete said. “NATO junk. None… Read More

Veterans and the Arts

War is prison too. Specialist Haywood T. Kirkland 25th Infantry Division, Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam Hopped up on ‘number tens’—a cocktail of Quaaludes and speed—Willie Kearns, one of our black sergeants, stormed into the mess hall and murdered three white soldiers. Then Kearns slumped to his knees, braced his rifle’s stock on the floor,… Read More